Today I had more or less made up my mind that I’d make a photo report on Hafslo, a small settlement in Sogn. It was starting to be routine work, but today the weather wasn’t on my side at all! At the same time I was arriving in Hafslo, sombody of importance seemed to have left our world and flags were honouring this funeral just about everywhere.

Let me start off with a few panorama views putting the place into the surrounding landscape. And just to make it perfectly clear: Allthough this is in Sogn, it’s not part of the ‘Sognefjord’ itself! The settlement ‘Hafslo’ is lying some hundred yards above the ‘Sognefjord’ (and to the right in the picture) and the water you see is from Lake Hafslo.Hovednæringen i Hafslo er nok jordbruk og skogbruk (og litt turisme ) Hafslo er ellers den største bygda i Luster kommune, men det betyr ikke at den er veldig stor.

The main activity in Hafslo is agricultur, forestry and a bit of tourism. Hafslo is the biggest settlement in the community of Luster, but ‘biggest’ in this connection doesn’t mean much.
Last population count (2012) ended on 441 inhabitants!

Here the water fra Lake Hafslo leaves the lake through a stream ending in the ‘Sognefjord’ near the city of ‘Sogndal’. The settlement of Hafslo may here be seen on the other side of the lake (towards left). The I feel we have place Hafslo on the map – so to speak?
Time to move towards the center of the village –

Eikum Hotel lies as one of the first buildings you see entering Hafslo. And if one should believe what one reads, they are first and foremost known for the quality of their excellent home-made food. In Hafslo you’ll also find a high school with a selected line of education for future chefs; an education many of our best chefs has taken.

A modest grocery store had found it’s place at an intersection, and as far as we could see – the only one! And with only 441 inhabitants there will probably not be much of a competition in the future ?

Freia! What most Norwegians recognize as ‘a little piece of Norway’. but which have presently been sold to American owners.
NB! I don’t think Freia chocolates was sold from this building any longer.
(Probably more of a historical memory!)

Before leaving the village center we are throwing a glanced down upon the local children day care unit where the kids are busy driving their ‘red bus’ or participating in other activitiesVidere går turen forbi båthavna. Det er ikke behov for mer en småbåter her inne på Hafslovannet. bare akkurat nok til at man kan komme utpå for å hente seg middag…

Out trip proceeds along the shoreline to the harbour. Here there is no need for more than small boats, only sufficient to secure a fish meal once in a while

One mile out we find ‘Hafslo church’. And like most churches these days, it was undergoing repairs, but no more extensive than they could still perform the local funerals (like today). I think there were cars parked bumper to bumer for at least a mile down the road!

Hafslo church is a so called ‘long church’ built in 1878 with room for about 300 people. Today there must have been more, judging from the number of cars parked along the roadside.Trærne rundt kirkegården har blitt trimmet av den lokale gartneren, og det har medført at man i Hafslo har fått en helt ny type bosetting blant fuglene. Her har en måke faktisk bygget seg et rede i et tre isteden for på bakken som vanlig er.

The trees around the church has been trimmed down in height by the local gardener. As a result the birds in Hafslo has found a new way of nesting. Here a seagull that has built herself a nest in the top of the tree instead of on the ground as usual.

We have proceeded a bit further away from the village center, and there were not to many houses at all in the near by hills. But we are still in Hafslo, therefore we will give you still another shots from here:Gamle naust klorer seg fast i strandsonen –

One of the ‘locals’, placed in our path, were warning us that we were about to leave Hafslo and were wishing us good bye and welcome back. (The road stops dead in the wilderness another 30-40 miles up ahead, but that’s another journey)
(Compliments of SRB )